This
Masters
by
Research
project
involves
two
ways
of
meeting
that
explore,
in
complimentary
ways,
the
question
of
belonging.
It
comprises
this
exegesis
and
a
performance
at
a
spot
near
where
I’ve
lived
for
15
years,
on
the
banks
of
the
Merri
Creek
in
Melbourne.
This
spot
is
where
John
Batman
probably
met
with
Wurundjeri
elders
on
June
6th
1835,
with
the
aim
of
negotiating
a
treaty
for
the
buying
of
500,000
acres
of
their
land.
When
I
walk
along
the
Merri
Creek
I
feel
that
it
is
in
some
way
‘mine’,
but
know
that
this
is
only
the
case
because
the
original
inhabitants
were
violently
prevented
from
maintaining
their
traditional
lives
here.
For
contemporary
Aboriginal
people,
Australia
can
be
felt
as
‘theirs’
and
‘not
theirs’;
and
many
immigrant
Australians
who
now
‘belong’
here
were,
either
themselves
or
their
ancestors,
violently
moved
off
their
own
homelands.
It
could
be
argued
that
Australians’
relationship
to
the
land
is
paradoxical.
I
am
interested
in
what
theatre,
specifically
site-­‐specific
theatre,
can
do
to
address
the
issue
of
belonging.
Neil
Leach
describes
belonging
as
inherently
performative.1
Assuming
that
the
personal,
social,
historical
and
spatial
are
inseparable
and
interdependent,
I
have
chosen
a
site
that
is
particularly
evocative
of
my
(and
hopefully
other
Australians
too),
exploration
of
connection
to
this
country.